OTTAWA, ONTARIO; April 28, 2017: Invest Ottawa, lead economic development agency for the City of Ottawa, today applauded the Government of Ontario’s decision to invest $63 million in a centre that facilitates the commercialization of next generation networking technologies – an investment that is getting high marks from Ottawa’s high tech community.

Headquartered in Ottawa, the Centre of Excellence in Next Generation Networks (CENGN) will receive this funding over the next five years as part of the Ontario Government’s $650 million investment in transformative technologies, as announced in yesterday’s provincial budget.

CENGN is funded in part by the Government of Canada’s Network of Centres of Excellence (NCE) program. The organization provides testing infrastructure that helps small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), governments and academia rapidly validation and commercialize next generation networking (NGN) products, applications, services and solutions.

Practically any technology, idea or innovation created today requires some level of connectivity. A key challenge in commercialization is the ability to field-test and validate technology on an accessible network. Current networks do not offer the flexibility of access required by SMEs. As the world moves to NGN – for example, companies such as Google, Amazon and AT&T have made this choice – Canadian technology must prove their solutions work on the latest network architecture.

“Invest Ottawa has worked closely with CENGN since its inception,” said Mike Tremblay, President and CEO of Invest Ottawa. “This major funding announcement by the Province of Ontario underscores Ottawa’s leadership in next generation networks. It’s this kind of support that will help homegrown, Canadian companies to become globally competitive. And, it will help lay the foundation for new innovations in areas such as autonomous vehicles (AV), precision agriculture, smart cities and telemedicine.”

“The Government of Ontario has provided tremendous support to the Ottawa region over the last few years, and the impact of these investments is evident across the city. It is fueling innovation and economic development that creates jobs here, but also benefits Ontario more broadly,” said Mayor Jim Watson. “These new investments in CENGN, ENCQOR and the Autonomous Vehicles Innovation Network will further establish Ottawa as a centre of advanced technology and expertise.”

The Mayor said the technology investments announced in the budget, along with Blackberry’s QNX Autonomous Vehicle Innovation Centre that opened last December in Kanata – creating some 650 new engineering jobs – confirm Ottawa’s position as a global hub for innovative networking technologies.

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About Invest Ottawa

Invest Ottawa, lead economic development agency facilitates economic growth and job creation in the city of Ottawa. Guided by a mission to make Ottawa the best place in Canada to start and grow a business, we help to catalyze the growth and success of local entrepreneurs and firms. A non-profit corporation, Invest Ottawa delivers programs and services that enable innovation, investment and trade, helping companies to compete with anyone in the world. This includes: start-up incubation and mentorship, acceleration for existing companies, global business and investment attraction and local business retention, targeted sector development, commercialization, and marketing Ottawa’s diversified economy and high quality of life. For additional information, please visit: www.investottawa.ca